Nut Stores/Roasters in NYC and elsewhere

Anyone here been to SP's Nuts? Or similar places? I've never been, but it sounds a bit like the nut roasters in European cities. From what the article says, it sounds like an interesting piece of Americana is on the verge of extinction.

One of the few retail stores left in Downtown Akron (and maybe the only one open on Saturday) is an excellent old fashioned nut store. It had to relocate across Main Street, but as of last summer, it was still open. I am not sure if they roast themselves, but it sure smells like it! The fine Mary Coyle Ice Cream Store in Akron has a generous selection of nuts by the pound, but of course it is not a "nut store."

I was suprised to find out that there was only one nut roaster store left in Manhattan. I was aware of SP Nuts, but the few times I walked up that way from work downtown in search of nuts I'd go to Bazzini (which I've just learned from the article that they've closed thier retail operation).

Two others I've been to are Wesco Fruit & Nut in Irvington NJ, which is about as old school as it gets--You walk right out into the roasting floor and place your order, there is no 'retail shop" per se.

I have passed this store many times, though the sign out front makes you think the name of the business is "We Are Nuts About Nuts". I didn't realize they still roasted nuts there. About 20 years ago, a lot of stores opened up in Manhattan that sold bulk candy and nuts. Most of them are already closed, and did not do any roasting on site. Until they moved their plant to the Bronx, Bazzini still operated their entire wholesale nut business in Manhattan. Now that cafe and nut store is gone, too.

What I still vividly remember are the candy and fresh-roasted nut counters in department stores back in the 60's. Sears, Woolworths, and discount department stores all seemed to have them. They would roast nuts in deep fryers. You could smell the oil in half the store. I used to like the Spanish peanuts.

Oh, one other place. Our office in Michigan sends us a big bag of Pistacios every holiday season from Germack's Pistacio Company in Detroit. They may be the best pistacios I've ever had. It's one of the highlights of the holiday season for my office when we see the shipping box on the reception desk: "The Nuts are Here!"

I like freshly roasted peanuts. When I worked in Newark I used to pass a place on Mulberry St that had a roaster going. They got 'urban renewed' out of Newark and are now nutsonline.com. My roaster of choice now is at the Allentown farmer's market. They offer a light, regular and dark roast. The dark is the best!

I haven't thought about Woolworth's in a while. It was indeed nice to smell the roasted nuts and other foods there. In Milwaukee there's a candy/nuts chain called Quality Candy/Buddy Squirrel that sells freshly roasted nuts. Some of the stores are combined QCBS, but others are stand-alone nut shops. The stores I've been in have a roaster-looking heat unit, but I'm not sure if the nuts are actually roasted there, or if they're just kept warm (and aromatic).

Edit: From what I see on their website, they roast the nuts at the central QCBS facility in a Milwaukee suburb:

If you are ever in Charleston, WV don't miss the Peanut Shoppe on Capitol St. It has been there since 1950. the store itself is very narrow, just enough room for the counter & a nut roaster. I remember going "uptown" shopping with my parents. While my mom shopped(in heels, dressmaker suit, gloves & hat), my dad would take my sister & I to the Peanut Shoppe or fresh roasted peanuts. Then we would walk down to Blossum Dairy for a malted.

In Milwaukee there's a candy/nuts chain called Quality Candy/Buddy Squirrel that sells freshly roasted nuts. Some of the stores are combined QCBS, but others are stand-alone nut shops. The stores I've been in have a roaster-looking heat unit, but I'm not sure if the nuts are actually roasted there, or if they're just kept warm (and aromatic).

I grew up within spitting distance of CherryVale Mall and for a number of years there was a Buddy Squirrel shop on the upper level near Marshall Field. Whenever I had some spare change I'd often buy a small bag of their roasted cashews, and to this day they're still the best cashews I've ever had.

The only other roaster I'm aware of is Heavenly Roasted Nuts, which has stands at Miller Park. I've never checked them out, though, because the sugar-sweet aroma really turns me off.

Allentown Fairgrounds market and the Green Dragon market in Ephrata have roasters and both offer a dark roast peanut. Now I live in Virginia supposedly famous for peanuts and they've never heard of dark roast.

From the site:The "Peanut Shop", once the original home of Planterstm Peanuts, is still nuts after all these years. "Mr. Peanut" still walks around and hands out fresh roasted nuts and we still use the original over-under "scales" to weigh candy and still roast peanuts in "Little Bertha".

I used to stop in the Planter's Peanut Store in downtown Columbus where they roasted nuts. And I remember one in Charleston, West Virginia and another in New Haven, Connecticut.

Sure do have fond memories of freshly roasted peanuts at several Planters. I recall one on Main St in Hartford, CT on the corner, across from G Fox and another one downtown in New Bedford, MA. Last one I recall going to is back in the mid 70's at a mall off Rt 46 near Dover, NJ.